A Bit of SoMa Fluff
by KieraElieson
Summary: Soul gets a job, and Maka has a secret soft spot for cat ears and butler cafes.
1. Chapter 1

"Just get a job!" Maka yelled, pushing Soul towards the door.

"Maka!" Soul protested.

"Go!"

That had been a week ago. Soul was now gone most of every afternoon, and proudly showing off his earnings, but he refused to tell Maka where he was working. Death city had many places that were willing to give our part time jobs, and Maka had gone around, trying to figure out which one Soul had gone to, but with no luck. In fact, it had been detrimental, because she had been wandering around instead of studying, and now she was rather behind.

She decided that, since the house was too distracting with its emptiness, she would have to go somewhere else to study. She gathered up all of her books, some paper, and plenty of pens and highlighters, piling them into a backpack. Then, she went out.

Unbeknownst to all of her friends, she had a favorite restaurant. It had good food, if just slightly expensive, and the atmosphere was calm, and easy to study in. It was also small, and out of the way, so not very many people came. Most of their business was catering food for parties. But, the reason that it was her favorite, the reason that she would never, ever, ever tell anyone. Not ever, ever, ever. It was her favorite because it was a butler cafe, and sometimes, the waiters also put on cat ears. As much as she hated to admit it, she had inherited some things from her father. She kept them close, deep and dark secrets, but they were still there. Which is why she limited her trips, and never told anyone where she was going.

Maka walked in and was greeted by the owner.

"Good afternoon, Miss Maka!"

Maka heard something break in the back. "Good afternoon."

"We're a bit busy today, we've got a large order to fill. If you don't mind waiting, we'll bring out your usual in just a bit."

"That's fine, I don't mind waiting."

Maka sat down in the corner and pulled out her books. After a while, someone came by and set down a tray. She was rather engrossed in the book, and she didn't look up, just mumbled a thank you. At the end of the chapter, she closed the book. The tray was just the usual, a teacup, a pot of tea, a small bowl of sugar, and a miniature pitcher with milk. But, there was also a piece of paper underneath the teacup. She picked it up.

'Here, we don't know each other.'

The handwriting was unmistakably Soul's. He was working here?! He might have even been the one to bring her the tray, and she hadn't even noticed. Her first thought was that she had been busted. But her second thought was wondering what Soul looked like in his butler uniform.

She shook the thoughts aside and opened up the next book, taking a sip of her tea. But still, at every noise, her head would bob up to see if it might be Soul.

Everything was calm for a while, except for the noise from the back, where everyone was scrambling to prepare the order. Maka actually got a bit of studying done. Her teapot was empty now, and she wanted some more, but no one had come out for a while.

Then the bell at the front door rang as someone entered. It was another girl, of the age to go to Shibusen, but she didn't. Maka had seen her here several times.

Soul came out of the back room. "Good afternoon, Miss."

Maka tried very hard to ignore him while he took the other girl's order. But he really looked surprisingly good in the butler's outfit, and he had a small red flower tucked into his pocket, that marked him as a trainee, but, more importantly, made his eyes look brighter than ever.

And then he was walking towards her, a faint scowl on his face.

"Do you need anything, Miss?"

"Um, you can refill my tea."

"Alright, I'll be right back."

He had already mastered a 'customer voice', and it was odd, being talked to like that from him.

In another hour, the other girl had left, and the order has been sent off. The manager was leaning on the counter. Soul was somewhere in the back.

"Say, Miss Maka?"

"Hmm?" Maka looked over at him.

"You're one of our most faithful customers." He paused for a bit. He usually did. Unless he was giving a practiced speech he tended to talk slowly, with several pauses. "We're trying to be more appealing, and get more customers to come to us. What do you think?"

"Hmm. Well, you could do the cat ears more."

"Those are fun." Another pause. "What about the ears with street clothes? A bit more laid back. Better or worse?"

"I think it can be good, if you switch it up a bit."

"I see. Would you like more tea?"

"No, but I would take whatever dessert is handy."

"Coming up."

Maka ate the pie he brought her, and then cleaned up her books and papers.

"Would you like the bill now, Miss?" The only other waiter, who had just returned from delivering the order, asked.

"Yes, please."

Maka paid and left.

Later that evening, Soul came home.

"So, why didn't you want to tell me you worked there?" Maka asked.

"It's just… it's not a cool job."

"I thought that you looked plenty cool."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"Huh."


	2. Chapter 2

"Don't lie, I know that you know her, and I know that you like her too."

"Fine. So what?" Soul grumbled.

"I have an idea for you. Something so cool, she won't be able to resist. Just see if you can say anything to get her here tomorrow." The manager spoke quickly, so he must have thought this out very thoroughly. "And just follow my instructions."

* * *

Maka had been coming back to the cafe more and more often since she had learned that Soul worked there.

She opened the door.

"Hey, Maka!" Soul was sitting on a stool, rather than standing, and he was somehow doing it cross-legged. He was wearing some of his normal clothes, but he had white cat ears on, and even a fake tail. He dropped down and swaggered over.

"So, you want the normal?" He drawled, sounding much closer to his normal speech.

"Yeah."

Maka sat at her table and pulled out some of her stuff. Soul brought her the tray and then squatted down on the floor near her, in what was almost his signature pose. When she looked at him, he grinned, showing all his teeth.

"Whatcha think? Pretty cool?"

"Definitely cool," Maka said. She reached out and ruffled the top of his hair.

To her surprise, rather than pulling away, or laughing and leaving, Soul let out a soft, drawn out nyaa. Maka felt a blush rising. She picked up her book and knocked him on the head with it.

"Baka."

Soul chuckled and walked off.

That day, Soul undoubtedly won the most liked award, if there was one. The manager was decent, and the other waiter a bit awkward, but Soul fit the aesthetic so perfectly. Hardly any girl that entered was able to leave without blushing at his antics. Especially if he asked if they thought that his ears were soft. Maka herself blushed every time he said that, even though he hadn't ever directed it at her.

Maka wasn't sure if she could stand it. She was actually getting jealous. She packed up and left early.

Maka went home and laid on the couch to read. A pleasure book this time, she could only study so much. A while later she heard the door open, but she didn't look up. She had been reminded of earlier, and her cheeks were a bit pink. She held the book closer to her face.

Soul walked up to her and swatted near her, pulling the book away a bit.

"Lookit, Maka! Boss let me keep 'em."

Maka looked. Soul was still wearing the ears. His face was full of a mischievous joy.

"So, how do you like 'em? Do you think that they're soft?"

His head was within easy reaching distance, too easy. Maka reached out and petted the top of his head. Her face bloomed a bright red.

"Yeah, they are," she said quietly.

"Nyaa, Maka likes my ears!" Soul said, grinning at her. "Is my hair soft too?"

Maka could not. She could not. It was too much. She threw the book, narrowly missing his head, and ran to her room, locking her door.


	3. Chapter 3

Maka did everything short of directly hiding from Soul for the next few days. They were partners. She could only like his as a partner. That was it. These strange, fluttery feelings had to stop. She couldn't let them stay. Definitely not. She couldn't think about him like that. His hair couldn't be that soft in her mind. Even though it really was. No! He was just her partner. And she definitely couldn't ever do something like kiss him. Partners were partners. Just that. Forget about her parents being both married and partners. That didn't turn out well. Except that Soul was very different from her Dad. But still! She had to keep it at partners. Besides, who knew that Soul even liked her? Except that he had let her touch his hair. Practically asked her to touch his hair. No, he was just being silly. Just acting like a boy. He definitely didn't like her back. No! She didn't like him either! Just partners. That's it. That's it. For sure.

Just then, there was a knock at her door. Maka unrolled herself from the little ball that she had been unconsciously scrunching up into.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, Maka, can I come in?" Soul asked.

"Sure."

Soul opened the door and held out a plate with a piece of cake on it. "I got this, because you seemed mad at me ever since the other day, and, I guess I went too far, so, sorry."

He set the plate down and turned to leave.

"Hey, wait, Soul."

"Hmm?"

"I wasn't really mad at you, it was just something else. I'm sorry for making you think that I was."

"Oh?"

Maka ignored the implicit question. "Let's call Kid and Black Star, we call all get together and play basketball."

Soul shrugged, trying to look cool, though he was obviously very confused. "Yeah, ok."

* * *

Maka played basketball with the rest of them, and really threw herself into the game, trying to clear her mind of all the confusing, cobwebby thoughts. But it didn't work. Not really.

"Hey, Tsubaki, would you want to come with me and go get some dinner?"

"Oh, sure."

* * *

"And so I don't really know if I like him, or if he likes me, or even, if we both happen to like each other, what we should do about it."

Tsubaki sipped her tea. "Well, I think that you'll have to sort out your own feelings, but I might have a way for you to find out if he likes you back."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Ask him."

"Ohh!" Maka put her head in her hands. "But if I do that, it'll seem like I already like him and I'll have to figure out what to do about us."

"Well, maybe, but you could always tell him that you want to start out slow. Tell him that you don't really want to date, or kiss, or whatever it is that you're so afraid of."

"I don't know."

"Or you could start from the other direction. Start by holding his hand or something."

Maka groaned. "I know that you're making sense, but my brain just doesn't want to do it."

"I think that you're having a hard time, but I think that if you two talk it out, that it will get better. You've got a long relationship already. I think that you're trying to move it too fast, and that you should just go a bit slower. I think that once you've worked it out, things will go back to normal, and then it'll move on from there pretty slowly."

* * *

When Maka got back Soul was sitting on the couch and watching a movie. She sat next to him and watched it with him. All too soon, it was over.

"Hey, Soul."

"Hmm?"

"I think I like you."

 **The next chapter will be longer, and it'll have Maka in a maid costume!**


	4. Chapter 4

"We have to do what?" Maka asked.

"You, the whole class, will have to make some kind of fundraiser for the school," Stein repeated calmly.

A murmur ran around the room.

"You can pick whatever you like, and it can last however long you like, but it'll have to make at least one thousand dollars, as well as extra for any school facilities you may use."

"But why?" Someone else asked.

"Apparently some of the parents have raised a complaint that Shibusen is not giving its student enough 'real world experience'. This is a response to that."

Someone knocked on the door to the classroom. "Oh, I've got to go. You students will have the rest of this school day to plan, but after that you will have to use your own time, classes will be as usual." Stein wheeled his chair out of the room.

"Maid cafe!" Shouted out some boy from the back of the class. Before anyone could protest, most of the boys were nodding, some with silly grins on their faces.

"Ok, fine. But only every other day. On the others, you boys will have to do a butler cafe." Maka said.

"I'm fine with that," Soul said.

"A vote!" Black Star shouted at the top of his lungs. "All for a maid cafe and butler cafe, raise your hands."

Most of the class raised their hands.

"Who doesn't like it?" Black Star asked, still shouting.

Two or three people raised their hands, one of them being Tsubaki. But Black Star was too excited to be in charge. "Then we're doing it! Yahoo!"

The class erupted into talking, and people gravitated into little groups to discuss. Maka went over to Tsubaki.

"Why didn't you want to do it?"

"Well, it's just, kind of embarrassing."

"It's not more embarrassing than Black Star, and you still stick with him."

"I just, don't really want to wear it."

"Well, we could always modify the outfit a bit. No one says that it has to be revealing or anything. We could lengthen the skirt easily, and I think that if you did it for just a bit you'd get more comfortable. We'll all be nervous together. That's why I said that the boys had to do it too."

"Well, since it's decided… alright. I'll help make the girls' outfits."

"Thanks! I'll gather them around. I think, probably, if we go straight into it, it might actually be really fun."

Maka gathered all of the girls, and they went into the locker rooms to take measurements, and any special requests. Several girls wanted slightly longer skirts than were quite the expected length, and several wanted to be sure that they had ruffles, and there were requests for several different colors. Tsubaki took all of these things into consideration and drew up several different designs before there was one that everyone agreed with. Two other girls had had experience sewing, and they agreed to take the picture home, along with the list of measurements, and to make the basic dresses. Tsubaki said that she would make the aprons and maid caps, and Maka agreed to help her.

One week later, almost everything was ready. A few people who had really not wanted to wear the uniforms had been practicing cooking, and the boys' uniforms had arrived. Maka still thought that it was half cheating to order them from a store, especially since there was now an extra amount of money they would need to earn, above the thousand dollars. Everything was almost ready. They would open their cafe on Saturday. The school had worked out with them a rent for one of their larger rooms and use of the kitchen.

Maka looked around. Everyone looked really good, some knew better how to wear and move around in the outfits, especially Soul, he looked as comfortable as if he had been born wearing it. Maka looked down. She felt that she didn't look quite as good in the maid outfit.

"It's breathtaking. Don't worry, you'll be fine." Soul's voice purred into her ear.

Maka jumped, shocked by his sudden appearance. "You really think so?"

Soul backed up, and looked her over carefully. "It's good enough to eat. This school will be getting as much money from me coming, just to be served by you, than from anyone else."

"You'll be working too, you know," Maka scowled, trying to hide her blush at his compliments.

"Not every day. And on my days off, I'll come and visit." Soul grinned mischievously.

But little did Maka know, as she turned away, that the grin had quite a bit to do with the camera that he was hiding behind his back.

* * *

Maka carried the tray out. She had been right, after a few days, she was really enjoying this.

"Here you are, sir. Will you be wanting anything else?"

"Uh, no. Thank you."

Maka went back to the kitchen. She had been put in charge of row three, and at the moment, there was a table waiting for food, one about to finish, one still eating, the one that she had just served, and one empty table.

"Soul, is 3-2 ready?"

"Just about."

Soul had been recruited to help in the kitchen, and he turned out to be rather good at it. Not that he did much actual cooking. Since most of the class had sub-par cooking abilities, most of the foods that they served were cakes and cupcakes that they had bought and just decorated themselves. But Soul was good at the decorating, and especially good at cutting the cake into pieces after it was decorated without spilling whipped cream and frosting everywhere.

"Ok, here." Soul handed her the full tray.

Maka carried it out and gave it to the people at the table. The thing that surprised her the most about this job was how many people came that she had never seen before. She had always thought, in the back of her mind, that she had seen most of the people in Death City, but it was becoming quite clear that she really didn't know hardly anyone.

She went to the next table. "Are you just about done, sir?"

"Yeah, just about. You can bring me the check now."

"Yes, sir."

It really was a fun job. Maka walked back to the kitchen with the tray full of dirty dishes. As she walked by, she smiled. As good as he looked in his butler suit, Soul looked really good in just his normal clothes and an apron. She didn't know how he had managed to make a headband look hot, but he had certainly managed it. Just, all of it, all together. She was glad that he was hers.

 **Sorry for being so long, inspiration is hard sometimes. Next chapter will feature an onsen, though I can't promise how soon it will be.**


End file.
